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RTV's Strong Protest Against Desh TV's Unethical Activities

Rtv News

  13 Oct 2024, 20:19

RTV has issued a protest against Desh TV, accusing the channel of spreading false, fabricated, and baseless news about them. In a formal protest letter, RTV urged Desh TV to refrain from unethical journalism.

For the past several years, Desh TV’s Managing Director, Arif Hasan, has been accused of blackmailing major industrial groups and businessmen by broadcasting false reports. The channel, which received approval during the authoritarian Awami League government, has been under scrutiny, and a prominent industrial group recently filed a defamation suit against Arif Hasan.

Several top industrialists, speaking on condition of anonymity, told RTV that Arif Hasan directly demanded specific sums of money through WhatsApp, threatening them with negative news coverage.

Arif Hasan is currently under investigation by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) for laundering large sums of money abroad. He allegedly purchased a property in Toronto, Canada, for 3.7 million CAD (approximately 321.5 million BDT). The ACC has also uncovered evidence of loan fraud involving 3.35 billion BDT and movable and immovable assets worth 1.28 billion BDT under his name.

Arif Hasan, who rose to prominence during the tenure of the now-deposed Awami League government, is also accused of forming a money-laundering syndicate with former Law Minister Anisul Haque and former State Minister for Power Nasrul Hamid Bipu.

Before the July revolution, Arif reportedly appointed Toufiqa Karim, a controversial figure known as a "court mafia" and close associate of former Law Minister Anisul Haque, as the Chairperson of Desh TV.

Allegedly, this appointment was made under the condition that cases against her by the ACC would be suspended and 15 frozen bank accounts would be reactivated. Shamima Akhter, a Desh TV special correspondent and a favored associate of Anisul Haque, facilitated the arrangement. Shamima was previously warned several times for spreading misinformation about BNP-Jamaat on social media while serving as RTV’s chief reporter.

Sources indicate that the ACC possesses additional information about Arif Hasan’s fraudulent activities, including changing his passport six times between 2011 and 2018.

Attempts to contact Arif Hasan for verification through his phone were unsuccessful. Unconfirmed sources suggest that Arif has fled to Canada, anticipating strict action from the interim government against him.

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